France downed but not out

France confirmed their place in the last eight of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, despite losing 2-1 against Switzerland in their final Group B match in Herfølge today.

Passage secured
France needed a point to secure their passage to the quarter-finals, but advanced despite the defeat after rivals Ukraine lost 2-1 against Portugal in the group's other match in Valby. Group-winners Switzerland will now face Georgia in the next phase, while France must take on Germany.

Swiss rearguard
France started brightly but their initial attacks were halted by a well-organised Swiss rearguard and, within the space of a minute, Markus Frei's side had claimed a 2-0 lead.

Double blow
Sandro Bürki converted a 22nd-minute penalty after Boban Maksimovic had been brought down in the box by French keeper Alexis Thebault, before Michael Diethelm's determination allowed Slavisa Dugic to volley in from close range seconds later.

Lacklustre performance
France enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening half but were only created a handful of clear-cut opportunities against a Swiss side looking to maintain their 100 per cent record in the tournament. For all their domination, France failed to produce one single shot on target during a scrappy first half.

Duo go close
Switzerland continued to impress after the interval and were desperately unlucky not to add their lead, when Bürki and Maksimovic both shot narrowly over in the space of two minutes.

Lejeune the creator
With qualification already secured, Switzerland seemed content to sit back and surrender most of the initiative to France who showed plenty of technical skill but were ineffective in front of goal. Coach Luc Rabat added more firepower to his lacklustre attack by replacing Gaël Clichy with Kévin Lejeune. His tactical change paid off immediately when Lejeune set up Jonathan Bru to reduce the deficit with ten minutes remaining.

Room for improvement
However, France never looked likely to add a second goal, as the Swiss ran down the clock. Rabat's side must now improve dramatically if they are to overcome Germany in the quarter-finals on 5 May.

'Deserved to win'
Rabat was disappointed with his side's display and said: "I am disappointed with the way we played today. Switzerland deserved to win and to finish first in the group. I think that the game against Portugal cost us psychologically and I always said that my favourite teams were England, Germany, Spain and Portugal. So, when we beat Portugal, we were sure that we had done the hardest part."

'Can beat anybody'
Frei was understandably up-beat about his side's chances in the last eight and said: "Nobody would have expected us to have three wins from three matches at this stage. We have beaten three of the best sides in Europe so far and that proves that we can beat anybody."